The present invention is directed to a new and unique anticancer drug, which is identified generically as 4,5 di-cyclo, disilico, dimagnesium, dialumino, oxyo, trihydrate (3Mg++.3Al.sub.2 O.sub.3.3SiO.sub.2.3H.sub.2 O), which is a magnesium aluminosilicate (referred to hereinafter as "MAS"), and which are in the acetate, sulfate, chloride, or brominate form. These compositions come from a class of inorganic aluminosilicate chemicals known as zeolites. The compounds of the present invention are particularly useful in treating epithelial cell cancers in mammals.
The involvement of cancerous epithelial cells, which lead to the formation of solid tumors in humans, in such organs as the lungs, breast, skin, mouth, and colon are known as carcinomas. Most of the epithelial cell cancers are treated using chemotherapeutic agents and these tend to be toxic, and have immunosuppressive side effects. When treated this way, the cancer patient must then wait up to 3 weeks for his next treatment, until his immune system has restored itself.
Cancers involving human epithelial cells come from solid tumors of the breast, lung, stomach, liver, uterus, colon, skin, mouth and uterine cervix can form. Adenocarcinomas from secretory tissue and squamous carcinomas from protective linings are the two basic categories of carcinomas. Epithelial cell based cancers proliferate rapidly respecting no cellular boundaries. To fully understand how to treat epithelial cell based cancer, one must start at the cellular level, this involving use of cell culturing techniques. Present day drugs used for chemotherapy do not directly attack the cancer cell with any great accuracy. Drugs such as Methotrexate and Vincristine are toxic to normal healthy cells and diminish immune system functions. These usually offer the cancer patient extremely disquieting side effects such as diarrhea, hair loss, vomiting and weakness. The toxicity of these drugs often shorten their use or require a very intermittent use. The average chemotherapy cannot be used more than once a month.
A large effort has been put forth by the medical research community to find new drugs for the treatment of epithelial cell based cancers. Carcinoma of the lung, breast, prostate, and colon all together account for more than half of the deaths from cancer in North America. Anticancer drugs have for the most part been categorized into alkylating agents such as cytoxan, antitumor antibiotics such as dactinomycin and antimetablite drugs such as methotrexate. Most, if not all, of these chemotherapies have major side effects and are toxic.
It is well known that chemicals cause 95% of all cancers contracted by humans. Some of the most potent carcinogens are aldehydes, ketones, pyrenes, benzpyrenes, benzene, and nitrosamines. Nitrosamines were looked at early on because they are carcinogenic agents found in cigarette smoke and in the causative agents of rubber polymers.
Zeolites are natural hydrated silicates of aluminum and, usually, either sodium or calcium or both. Zeolites such as sodium aluminosilicate have a unique multi-dimensional structure of cavities into which small to medium size molecules and cells can be trapped. They exist in natural and artificial forms and are used extensively for water softening, as detergent builders, and cracking catalysts. Natural zeolites include analcite, chabuzite, heulandite, natrolite, stilbite, and thomosonite.
Zeolites have been used in animal feed. For example, as reported in "World Food & Drink Report", Apr. 19, 1990, hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate, an anti-caking agent used in animal feed, may reduce levels of aflatoxin in the milk of animals eating contaminated grain. Further, German patent DE19755921 teaches the use of zeolites or klinopitolites, that are used as food additives for human consumption as an aid to health, after they are treated with tribomechanical action to increase their surface area and destabilize their structure to release their chemical potential. These materials are thought to be a useful defense against cancers such as lung cancer, cancer of the colon, and skin cancer, and they are recommended for improving blood circulation.